Just prior to the 2015 IPCPR Trade Show, Cubanacan Cigars announced what it termed a national launch of its Mederos line. The Mederos brand pays homage to the Mederos family, the owners of Cubanacan Cigars. This is not a new line to Cubanacan, as it has been around for the past five years. While the line had a limited distribution, Cubanacan decided to give the line a push this past year. There are three blends in the Mederos line – each named for its wrapper: Connecticut, Habano, and Oscuro. Recently, I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Mederos Connecticut in the Torpedo vitola. Overall, I found this to be an excellent cigar that is milder in profile, yet not short on flavor.

The Mederos family has a rich history in the cigar business. The family tracers its roots back to Cuba and has been involved with making cigars since the early 19th century. Today, as a part of Cubanacan Cigars, the company has its own factory in Esteli, Nicaragua and is also involved in tobacco growing in Nicaragua.

Without further ado, let’s take closer look at the Mederos Connecticut Torpedo and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The wrapper of the Mederos Connecticut features a Connecticut Shade wrapper grown in Ecuador. The remainder of the blend incorporates Nicaraguan tobaccos.

There are five sizes to the Mederos Connecticut Torpedo. These same five frontmarks are also available in the Mederos Habano and Mederos Oscuro line. Each of these frontmarks are packaged in twenty count boxes.

The Mederos Connecticut Torpedo’s Connecticut Shade wrapper has a light brown color with almost a caramel tint to it. There is some oil on the surface. The surface of the wrapper is quite smooth with very thin visible veins and most of the wrapper seams well hidden. The torpedo tip has somewhat somewhat of a pencil-point shape to it.

There are two bands on the Mederos Connecticut. The primary band to the Mederos has a brown, gold, green, and red design. The middle of the band has a brown shield with gold trim on it. On the center of the band is a gold “M”. Draped over the lower part of the shield is a red ribbon with the text “Mederos” in gold cursive trim. To the left and right of the shield are four gold medallions. On the lower part of the band is a brown background. Sitting on the left side of this background is the text “Hand Made” in gold cursive font while on the right side is the text “Made in Nicaragua” – also in gold cursive font. On the far left of the band is the text’ Mederos” in small gold cursive font arranged in landscape mode on a thin brown background”.

The secondary band surrounds the footer. The band is brown with two gold stripes on both the upper and lower portion. On the center of the band is the text “Connecticut” in gold cursive font.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up the Mederos Connecticut Torpedo, I used a straight cut to remove the tip of the cigar. As what is now becoming standard practice with me for many figurado-shaped cigars, I used my Credo Special T cutter with the 36 ring gauge hole to get an ideal cut for this belicoso. Once the tip was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw phase. The cold draw provided a mix of cream and generic wood notes. Overall I considered the pre-light draw of the Mederos Connecticut Torpedo to be satisfactory. At this point I removed the foot band, lit up the cigar, and moved on to the smoking phase.

Flavor Profile

The Mederos Connecticut Torpedo started out with a mix of cream and cedar notes. There also was a slight amount of citrus sweetness in the background. The cedar notes contributed both sweetness and spice. Early on, the cream notes went primary while the cedar notes joined the citrus in the background. Meanwhile the retro-hale produced a mix of generic wood and cedar spice. notes.

During the first third, the cream notes became a little richer. As the Mederos Connecticut Torpedo moved into the second third, the cedar notes increased. By the midway point the cedar notes were on-par with the cream notes. Meanwhile the citrus notes were still in the background. During this time, the cedar also increased on the retro-hale.

By the last third, I found the cedar notes were in control as the lone primary note. The cream notes were now secondary. I also still detected the citrus sweetness in the background. This is the way the cigar experience came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

I found the Mederos Connecticut Torpedo to be a well-constructed cigar and this was reflected on the burn and draw. The burn took a straight path from start to finish. There was a slight curvature of the burn line along the way, but this didn’t require much in the way of touch-ups. This was not a cigar that required frequent touch-ups. The resulting ash had a light gray color to it. I also found this to be an ash that was on the firmer side. The combustion to the Mederos Connecticut Torpedo was outstanding – delivering an ideal burn rate and ideal burn temperature.

Burn of the Mederos Connecticut Torpedo by Cubanacan Cigars

There was a touch of resistance on the draw of the Mederos Connecticut Torpedo – which is something I like. I found the torpedo tip did not get soft. Overall this led to an ideal draw in my book.

Strength and Body

When it came to both strength and body, the Mederos Connecticut Torpedo is going to be a dialed back cigar. I found both attributes fell into the mild to medium range from start to finish. When comparing strength versus body, I found both attributes countered each other nicely – with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

Final Thoughts

The Mederos Connecticut Torpedo is not going to be a Connecticut Shade cigar that is going to redefine what a Connecticut Shade cigar will be. It is also not going to be a Connecticut Shade cigar that will push the strength and body levels of what is typically seen. This is going to deliver a mild and creamy smoke. It’s going to have subtle amounts of spice and sweetness. This is a cigar I’d recommend to a novice cigar enthusiast. It’s a cigar that I would recommend to an experienced cigar enthusiast that enjoys a milder cigar. As for myself, this is a cigar I would smoke again – and it’s one worthy of a fiver.

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